February News

A number of years ago a friend of mine, who pastors a church in a community where alcohol abuse is rife, made the following comment; “January is panel-beating month for us”. He then explained that so many people in the community fall apart during the Christmas/New Year holiday time, spending too much, drinking too much etc. that January is then spent putting people together again (hence “panel-beating”). At Themba Training January is also a bit of a “panel-beating” time for us. Many of our students, who own micro-businesses, spend too much money in December. Numbers participate in the traditional annual “trek” to the Eastern Cape where families expect them to entertain and buy gifts. They then return to Cape Town with no money, and spend the next month trying to sell to people who are in exactly the same situation as they are.

During January the decline in numbers of regular traders and their little shops is obvious when driving around the townships where we operate. The only ones occupying their usual spots are the fruit & veg traders. The requests for money can be overwhelming and January remains a challenging month for the Micro MBA training side of our project. We have received a new intake of students at our facility at Mfesane, Old Crossroads and once again Patson will entertain many with his unique style of teaching!

At our Bellville premises Malibongwe has continued with the PC classes. We are starting the year with 2 classes doing the Introduction to PC course. We have been supported by Global BPO and Jana Loock ,in particular, has been an absolute blessing. She has put together a very professional, high-class training manual and we are so grateful for her support.

We have now (hopefully) submitted the final forms for Themba Training to be a fully accredited SASETTA training provider. Lionel is itching to start his Security Training classes. Please pray with us that this last hurdle will be crossed in record time!

Finally – Malibongwe became a dad! Liam (little boy, weighed 3.6kg) was born 23 January. Hopefully he will be as good looking as his mom!

March News

Big news at Themba Training is that we will be moving into new premises on the 1st of May. A company in Bellville (GlobalBPO) has decided to partner with us and have made these premises available. They are also greatly assisting us with the rental payments. The house has been re-zoned with business rights, has excellent facilities and security. The great plus is that it is within short walking distance from the Bellville rail/bus stations and taxi rank. Many people in Cape Town regard this area as the hub of the city.

Currently 2 of our trainers are hard at work writing exams and qualifying to present the new courses we plan to start in June. At the new facility we will offer:

Three PC Courses
1. A basic computer skills course
2. A more advanced course (by Skillwise) with official accreditation
3. The MOS (Microsoft Specialist Course). This course comes with Microsoft’s International backing and accreditation. Obtaining this certificate greatly enhances an individual’s chances of securing employment.

Security Courses
We plan to offer the PSIRA level E and D courses – and eventually include levels C to A. We all know the security challenges faced in South Africa and the need for good security. We are convinced our courses will help many to find employment.

We are continuing with our Small Business Training and plan to offer this course at multiple venues.
We would appreciate any help we could get in obtaining computers. Not only for our students but also so we can start a PC library. Many people do not have regular access to PCs and our dream is to loan PCs to students during their time of training. This will obviously give them the opportunity to practice!